Livestock of various types form an integral traditional part
of the lives of all White Nile farmers no matter how sedentary an
agriculturist they may have become. They are not popular with the
authorities in the irrigated areas, but even here many farmers
will maintain an interest in livestock. Everywhere else such an
interest is ubiquitous

Table 5.5 shows that cattle are more significant in the
Arashkol area and in the more southerly parts of the research
area. Not only is rainfall more reliable in these parts, but
water sources are more abundant in the dry season. Conversely
camels are more important around Esh Shuqeiq and in the north.
Sheep and goats are important throughout, but herds tend to be
larger on the rainlands where they are an important source of
secondary income.

Cattle, sheep, and goats are kept as a form of investment, and
for providing meat and milk for domestic use or for sale in local
villages. Milk is also sold for cheese-making. Poultry are kept
by many farmers to supply eggs, and donkeys fulfil a role as
beasts of burden.

Table 5.6 demonstrates the farmers' provision of fodder for
livestock. Nearly ail animals rely more or less on local grasses
but on the clay plains aura cane is also very important. On the
qoz this is less important, as it has to be purchased. Ombaz is
also important, particularly in the dry season away from the
river, and even more in years of drought.

Agricultural Problems

There is no doubt that agricultural yields have fallen
significantly throughout the research area over the past decade.
For rain-fed cultivation there are no figures for the area, but
government statistics for rainland as a whole point to declines
of 14 per cent in yields in kg/ha for cereals between 1970 and
1980. Figure 5.5 gives the position with regard to groundnuts and
sesame in the neighbouring province of Northern Kordofan. In both
cases the area under crop has increased whilst yields per feddan
have declined dramatically since the early 1960s.

For the research area figures do exist for cotton under
irrigation. Figure 5.6 shows a generally falling yield per feddan
during the 1970s for the area as a whole, whilst figure 5.7 deals
with each of the individual schemes in the Ooz en Nogara Section.
They all paint the same gloomy picture. Falling yields therefore
appear to be one of the most significant features of the changing
agricultural economy of the research area.

Six groups of factors for this may be postulated and relate
to: technical problems; labour situation; administration;
environmental and ecological conditions; land difficulties; and
the socio-economic position.

Although tables 5.7 and 5.8 show average cotton yields for the
area as a whole and for specific schemes, it is clear that output
varies within individual schemes. Poor level Iing is a major
cause. On the Qoz en Nogara Scheme the areas near to Wad Sarih
and Khor el Mutraq in particular give the poorest yields. They
are slightly higher than the surrounding fields and consequently
water often fails to irrigate the hawashas properly. Each section
is levelled separately each season and consequently the problem
remains as a permanent feature rather than as a shortterm
complication. The areas which suffer most from bad levelling tend
to be on the peripheries of schemes and are also the ones most
vulnerable to animal invasion.

Ploughing

Ploughing often leaves much to be desired. On the irrigation
schemes, it is usually mechanized but the tractor drivers are
often unskilled. Although it is each farmer's responsibility to
repair damaged bunds and canal banks, gaps inevitably open up and
serious local flooding can occur. If plants are drowned, farmers
need to act swiftly to save them or to plant a new crop,
depending on the time of year.

Near Esh Shuqeiq, tractors were used for ploughing rainland in
the early 1970s despite warnings that the qoz was illsuited for
mechanization (Osman, 1966). This practice removed the top 10 to
13 cm of soil. Fortunately the dangers were soon realized and the
use of tractors was abandoned, though a legacy of reduced soil
fertility remained.

Crop Spraying

Spraying is undertaken to limit pests and diseases. Spraying
from the air was attempted but abandoned due to ineffectiveness
and cost (Mohammed, 1980). The system adopted at present is to
spray chemicals manually; this gives uneven coverage and is often
not carried out if there is a labour shortage. This must be
considered a significant, even if non-quantifiable factor.

Use of Fallow

The absence of fallow at Arashkol and its unorganized use at
Esh Shuqeiq have been significant factors in reducing soil
fertility.

Weeds

The significance of weeds in reducing yields of agricultural
crops on irrigation schemes has been discussed by El Arifi (1978)
in relation to the Khashm el Girba Scheme. The picture presented
there is equally applicable on White Nile pump schemes, where
weeds not only choke crops like cotton but also compete with the
desirable crops for moisture from irrigation water and block the
smaller canals.

Grass and weed infestation can be equally serious for rainland
cultivation. Here it is largely a reflection of poor farming
methods and noticeable variations can be seen between adjacent
bilad, depending on the amount of effort put into weeding by the
farmer.

Labour Problem

Labour Shortage

This is an important problem. On the Qoz en Nogara Scheme 78
per cent of farmers said that labour supply was decreasing; at
Arashkol, 63 per cent; and at Esh Shuqeiq all of the farmers
employing non-family seasonal labour complained of it. In its
simplest form, this is due to outmigration (usually to
urban-based jobs) exceeding

the level of new migrants (mainly from the west). At Arashkol
the problem is intensified by the close proximity of irrigation
schemes which offer higher wages than rainland farming. Gadir
(1976) has pointed out that in years of good rainfall labourers
stay longer on the baja to grow their own crops and herd
livestock, thereby reducing the labour supply along the river.
Labour shortages can seriously affect the efficiency of
agricultural operations, and tasks such as weeding are
insufficiently carried out.

Economic Attractiveness

Not only are the rainlands with their lower and decreasing
yields less attractive to labour than the pump schemes, but they
in their turn are suffering increased competition from other more
attractive areas with high labour requirements, including the
Gezira, Rahad, and Kenana Schemes.

Sharecropping

The high incidence of sharecropping does not create a sound
economic environment in which to work. Many of the absentee
tenants own shops, operate lorries, work in the Three Towns, or
sojourn in the Gulf States. This has been partly encouraged by
the greater economic opportunities offered in these environments
and parlty by the gradual deterioration of crop yields in the
research area. Once crop sharing begins, not only does it
seriously affect the morale of the new farm labourers, but it
often makes it inevitable that farmers should seek alternative
supplementary sources of income, the most common being livestock
rearing and labour on irrigation schemes, especially on the small
private schemes which offer higher wages than those under the
Agricultural Corporation. Significantly, El Zubair (1976)
concluded that irrigation hawashas tended to have lower Yields
when the farmer had a secondary occupation. Indeed, the Ed Dueim
pump scheme was finally disbanded in 1976/77 by the Agricultural
Corporation and handed over to the town council, because most of
the farmers were committed to their urban-based employment rather
than to agriculture. Since then the scheme has become a much less
formalized agricultural institution and now provides the town
with various necessities, including vegetables.

Sharecropping itself is a significant cause of labour shortage
on the pump schemes, since many of the sharecroppers were
themselves originally seasonal labourers, and by becoming
permanent farmers they have reduced their own workforce. Nowadays
it is becoming necessary to seek temporary workers for the
irrigation schemes from much further afield, for example from Suq
el Helba and Kareinik.

Labour Unions

Morale is not raised by the unions, which seem not only to be
ineffective but also to have leaders who are unrepresentative of
the workforce.

Administrative Problems

The irrigation farmers are highly critical of the White Nile
Agricultural Corporation, whose administrators are said to be out
of touch with the farmers' needs, lacking in managerial skills
and insufficiently objective in their approach to their work.

In the case of the Qoz en Nogara Scheme there exists a clear
dichotomy between the aims and objectives of the administrators,
on the one hand, and the needs of the farmers on the other. In
addition to the ineffectiveness of the labour unions the problem
is intensified by the failure of administrators to visit the
scheme regularly, with the result that there is a notable lack of
supervision. Some inspectors seem to lack even such basic
knowledge about their scheme as its size, the number of tenants,
and the water requirements for the various agricultural
operations.

The administration often fails in its obligation to supply
water for the farmers' aura crop. The problem of poor levelling
is exacerbated by the illegal sale of water to neighbouring
private schemes to boost the private income of some of the
administrative staff. Ahmed ( 1976) identified this same problem
on the Shabasha Scheme. Not only does this lead to lower levels
of aura production, but it seriously affects the morale of
farmers. Declining morale is also attributable to the belief that
the richest farmers, those with relatives in the White Nile
Agricultural Corporation, and scheme servants always secure the
most favourably located hawashas.

A poor track record in decision-making is another accusation
levelled at the Corporation. On the Qoz en Nogara Scheme the
decision to abandon fallow for four years has been fundamental in
causing soil deterioration. The unwillingness of administrators
to consider crop diversification is also viewed with frustration
by many farmers.

The late delivery of fertilizers has severely affected cotton
yields. When fertilizers were delivered in July and August they
could be applied both before and after sowing, but now they are
delivered in November when their effectiveness is severely
restricted. The Corporation has also been accused of being slow
in paving farmers for their cotton, with the result that farmers
often face serious problems of cash flow. As there are no formal
lending institutions, farmers are able neither to finance
adequately the inputs for the early part of the next season nor
to arrange for work to be done at the best time, with the
inevitable results for the new season's crop.

Environmental and Ecological Problems

Drought

The area has faced severe droughts in recent years, and this
has had a fundamental impact on agriculture. In the rainfed
areas, every interviewee considered the effects of drought on
their crops to be "serious." Twenty-five per cent of
the farmers at Arashkol who currently grow just aura claim to
have formerly grown other crops such as sesame as well. Drought
was said to be a significant factor in the trend towards aura.
Rain failure can be serious on the irrigation schemes as they are
dependent upon rainfall in July when the Jebel Aulia reservoir is
usually too low for the pumps to be effective. Consequently
drought can restrict the growth of the crops in their initial
stages and so reduce yields in the final harvest.

The effect of drought on livestock has regional variations,
Table 5.7 shows that drought is considered more serious at
Arashkol than at Esh Shuqeiq. In drought years both areas widely
use ombaz as a fodder. However, at Arashkol there are fewer
extensive pastures close at hand and so greater movement for
grazing is required, and this in itself has a deleterious effect
on livestock. Increasing numbers of cattle in the Arashkol area
in recent Years, and a concentration on them rather than on sheep
and goats, exacerbates the situation, as cattle need better
pastures, and with pasture deterioration they suffer more than
the hardy sheep and goats. This situation affects livestock kept
by irrigation farmers, since cattle are abundant in the south of
the research area. When necessary they are taken to the baja by
the village shepherd, but one mitigating factor here is that
scheme herds tend to be smaller and are less important
economically than their rainland counterparts.

Flooding

Flooding can be as serious as drought on some occasions. In
1978 it destroyed crops throughout the research area. Near
Arashkol, flooding and waterlogging destroyed seedlings; at Et
Tura'a, Idd El Ud, and just north of Esh Shuqeiq rain cultivation
in a khor bed was completely destroyed. This has had a permanent
impact because the flood deposited an exceptional amount of sand,
burying the fertile soil.

This is much more difficult to assess. Active sand dunes are
not extensive in the research area, the main ones being near Et
Tura'a, but this does not mean that desertification is not
present (Ibrahim, 1978). Mensching and Ibrahim (1977) suggest
that the ecologically sound climatic limit for millet production
is 500 mm. However, Jackson (1977) has pointed out that it is
possible to grow aura in areas with as little as 125 to 200 mm of
rainfall when this is concentrated in the coolest part of the
day, a situation occurring in the research area. From the
assertion of Mensching and Ibrahim it might be that the northward
extension of millet cultivation into the research area, under
rain-fed conditions, is itself a possible cause of
desertification, and it is not surprising that yields of these
crops should vary dramatically from Year to year. The clearest
expression of desertification in the area is the piling of sand
against crop residues and the growth of small sandhills on bilads
near Arashkol.

On the irrigation schemes desertification is potentially most
serious where sand dunes are adjacent to hawashas. El Zubair
(1976) has pointed out that blowing sand changes the nature and
composition of soil and reduces its fertility. Sand covering
makes the soil of the clay plain more permeable, increasing the
demand for water. Ibrahim (1976) describes desert creeping onto
irrigation schemes, but during field work no such evidence was
found where shelter belts exist.

The most serious effects of desertification on the irrigation
schemes are indirect. Ibrahim (1976) points out that haboobs
(dust storms) can dirty cotton lint, reducing its value, and make
cotton picking more difficult. He suggests that haboobs have
become more frequent in recent years.

Soil Fertility

Soil fertility is apparently decreasing, not only owing to
inadequate use of fallow but also because soil nutrients on
irrigation schemes are gradually being exhausted and soil
salinity is increasing. This has occurred in the Es Sufi basin
especially

Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

This is an ecological problem of varying spatial and temporal
significance, which first occurred along the White Nile in
1957/58 (Gay, 1958; Gay and Berry, 1959) and primarily affected
navigation (Davies,1959). However, it does get into irrigation
canals and blocks pumps, especially when a southerly wind is
blowing, concentrating the plant in the more northerly parts of
the Jebel Aulia reservoir. Sometimes it can be used as
supplementary feed for livestock.

Pests and Diseases

Dukhn and sesame are particularly attractive to birds and
subject to rat infestation as well as plant diseases.
Consequently the severest effects were reported at Esh Shuqeiq
(table 5.8). However, the problem is apparently a changing one.
Although 76.6 per cent of farmers interviewed at Arashkol said
their crops were not seriously affected by pests and diseases,
many of them believed that the problem is getting worse. Pests
and diseases do not appear to be as significant on the irrigation
schemes as on rainland and have not been responsible for any of
the major crop fluctuations in recent years.

The best known depredations by birds involve the weaver bird
(Quelea quelea oethiopica), but only rarely does it venture north
of Kosti into the research area (Bacon, 1954). Of much greater
importance here is the common sparrow (passer domesticus
arboreus), which is an infamous seed-eater. Dura has been less
vulnerable since the zirzira variety was introduced (Direr,
1970), but dukhn is still seriously affected. Sesame is also
attacked by birds but the effects are not usually serious. Rats
(Arvicanthis festicularis) are most serious on the qoz, where
their numbers have reached plague proportions in the past; they
attack sesame and dukhn in particular. The introduction of new
poisons has dramatically reduced their depredations,
Caterpillars, millipedes, grasshoppers, ants, locusts, and worms
all have periodic local significance in reducing Yields,
especially of sesame.

Common pests and diseases affecting cotton are well documented
(Bacon, 1954). The most important ones in the research area are
leaf curl, black arm, leaf-eating fleabeetle, thrips, jassid,
whitefly, and aphid. Small insects are also a great problem for
aura and dukhn, especially a small, grey beetle (Tanymecus
sparsus) which attacks the crop shortly after germination. As
this insect seeks cracks in the soil to shelter from the midday
heat, it tends to be most widespread on the clay plain. Before
the completion of the Jebel Aulia Dam, the aura stem-borer
(Sesamia cretica) was a great problem and has been known to
destroy entire crops in some parts of the clay plain. Since 1937,
however, the safra species of aura, which was particularly
vulnerable, has largely disappeared and the seriousness of the
pest has been reduced (Bacon, 1954). Aphids also attack aura on
the clay plain.

TABLE 5.8. The effect of pests and diseases on crops
(percentages)

Esh Shugeiq

Arashkol

Qoz en Nogara

Serious

57.5

23.4

7.6

Not serious

42.5

76.6

92.4

Buda (Striga hermonthica) is the most serious of the plant
parasites. Dura and dukhn can be badly affected, especially the
former. Once the parasite begins to grow it must be removed
manually, a long and labour-intensive process. Changing the
variety of the aura or dukhn may ease the problem temporarily.
Buda tends to be less serious on irrigated areas, providing crop
rotation does not allow the parasite to sustain its growth for
more than a few months (Bebawi et al., 1980). Grass and weed
infestation can also be very serious if not kept under control.
The main weed affecting cotton is e/ seid (nutgrass, Cyperus
rotundus) (El Zubair, 1976), which is a great problem on
irrigation areas in the Sudan at large (Andrews, 1954).

Livestock as well as crops suffer from various pests and
diseases and are discussed in chapter 6.

Land

Competition for land and conflicts over its use have had
significant implications for agriculture. Around Esh Shuqeiq,
drought in recent years has led to an increase in cultivated
areas in an attempt to increase overall crop yields. This has put
considerable strain on the limited amount of suitable land
available. Land poaching has resulted, especially of land left
fallow by farmers seeking to improve its fertility. Local police
at Esh Shuqeiq are of the opinion that this problem is becoming
worse each year. Land poaching does not appear to be as
significant a problem on the clay plain as on the qoz.

The invasion of rainland farms by animals is a far greater
problem than land poaching and is significant in all the
agricultural zones. Around Esh Shuqeiq the problem is greatest
when a bilad lies adjacent to a major route used by livestock
travelling to and from a water point. Often the animals are not
supervised sufficiently and they wander onto the bilads, both
eating and trampling crops. According to local police and
farmers, some semi-nomads encourage their animals to invade
farmland in drought years as they know that the penalties are to
them less than the cost of losing animals. Reports to the police
can lead to fines of úS100, but rarely does this happen. Farmers
are encouraged by their families to settle a dispute privately.
One farmer at Umm Ruqeiba, near Esh Shuqeiq, had 14 cows
wandering through his dukhn. Although he caught the animals, his
relatives prevented him from taking them to the animal pound.
Instead, they ordered the owner of the cows to give 0.5 k of
dukhn per head of cattle in compensation. The farmer said that
this was unfair as he lost several times more than this, but to
have followed the legal procedure would have been to no avail, as
the courts would have given the same decision. At Esh Shuqeiq,
all farmers interviewed claimed that they suffered from land
competition of this type and only 60 per cent thought that
present procedures dealt with the problem satisfactorily

Animal invasion at Arashkol is somewhat less significant. Of
those interviewed, 66.7 per cent complained of animal invasion,
but three-quarters of these said that a satisfactory solution
based on fines and compensation had been achieved in their area.
One possible reason for the difference between Arashkol and Esh
Shuqeiq is the existence at Arashkol of a regular water supply
nearby in the canals of the irrigation schemes.

Animal invasion has been perhaps the greatest problem of all
on pump schemes in recent years. Invasion of schemes by animals
during the hot dry season is particularly common. Every
interviewee complained of this problem and thought that control
measures were ineffective. Offending animals are taken to pounds
and fines are levied, but in practice few animals are caught and,
according to some farmers, police are often bribed by animal
owners to allow their livestock to graze on the aura and cotton
hawashas before the completion of the harvest, especially in
years of deficient rainfall. Some farmers now form syndicates to
hire their own private guards, but their effectiveness is so far
limited. Ahmed (1976) wrote of heavy crop losses on the Shabasha
Scheme in 1974/75 due to animal invasion, and the low cotton
yields on the Qoz en Nogara Scheme in 1979/80 were largely blamed
on the same thing. Farmers sometimes contribute to their own
difficulties by letting unsupervised donkeys trample and graze on
their own and neighbours' hawashas.

Animal trespass is becoming an increasingly serious problem.
Eighty-five per cent of the interviewees at Esh Shuqeiq said that
the problem had become worse over the past decade and was at its
worst during drought years. A similar proportion (80 per cent) at
Arashkol expressed similar apprehensions and on the Qoz en Nogara
Scheme almost 90 per cent of the farmers thought that the problem
was getting worse. On the irrigation schemes in particular it was
felt that penalties for animal trespass were not severe enough.

Socio-economic Problems

The poor state of Sudan's economy results in numerous
shortages of commodity goods, some of which seriously affect the
efficiency of the pump schemes. These include insecticides, such
as DDT, petrol, and spare parts for pumps and tractors (Ahmed,
1976). Pump stoppages resulting from these shortages are one of
the most significant reasons for serious crop failures on the
irrigation schemes. The lack of workshops on the schemes to
repair machinery is a further contributory factor (El Zubair,
1976).

Lost working time is a greater problem on some schemes than
others. Farmers on the Qoz en Nogara Scheme spend a considerable
time travelling between their homes and their hawashas. The
division of the scheme into three units has helped to ease this
situation (fig. 5.4).

Of much greater importance, however, is absence due to health
problems. The expansion of irrigation schemes in the White
Nile,as elsewhere in the Sudan,has been accompanied by an
increase in water-associated diseases, notably malaria, typhoid,
and bilharzia (schistosomiasis) (Amin, 1977). The problem is most
acute where people are dependent upon drinking water extracted
directly from irrigation canals, or from hafirs supplied by canal
water. The lack of health facilities exacerbates this problem (El
Zubair, 1976). Although the qoz is relatively better off in the
sense that less stagnant water reduces the incidence of disease,
it suffers from its remoteness in that it is much more difficult
to implement health measures (De Vajda, 1966).

Of uncertain importance is the theft of crops, notably cotton.
Gadir (1976) gave an example from the Eraig Scheme where cotton
was stolen in the harvesting season and sold to owners of private
schemes. However, crop stealing is not generally considered to be
very serious in the White Nile area, and as El Zubair (1976) has
pointed out, cotton stealing doesn't affect the final total, just
its distribution

Loss of animals mainly as a result of drought, has been
serious for many farmers. Drought leads not only to direct losses
from lack of pasture and water but also to losses from indirect
causes, in that weak animals are more likely to succumb to
disease; the gathering of large numbers of animals around a more
limited number of water points has the same effect; and owners
are more anxious to sell livestock if they feel they are going to
lose them anyway. Eight-five per cent of the farmers at Esh
Shuqeiq and 94.7 per cent at Arashkol claimed that their
livestock had decreased in number at some time over the last
decade from this cause. Of these, 47 per cent of the farmers at
Esh Shuqeiq and 11 per cent at Arashkol claim to have restored
their herds. Some farmers have been tempted to increase their
herds as an insurance policy against future drought losses.
Livestock are an uncertain economic asset, being particularly
vulnerable to drought and pasture deterioration. On the other
hand, within limits livestock can be moved from one place to
another when drought strikes. Nevertheless, recent droughts have
forced many rainland farmers to change their livelihoods, having
both lost animals and experienced crop failure. Livestock losses
are less serious for irrigation farmers as they have a more
reliable annual income from the cultivation of crops and are less
dependent on livestock.

In an inflationary situation, all farmers in the research area
are having to face the problem of rising prices. The rising costs
of equipment, fuel and spares, and labour is becoming very
serious for the efficient working of some of the pump schemes and
the total cost of "inputs" is beginning to call into
question the viability of cotton cultivation.

Conclusion: The Future of Agriculture in the Research
Area

Clearly, agriculture here is facing serious problems. Most of
these have arisen or become much worse within the last 12 years.
Since 1968, the area has suffered several years of drought which,
apart from their direct effects, have encouraged migration away
from the area. This in turn has led to labour shortages and has
intensified the many other problems of rainland farming. The
irrigation schemes have not been able to function as well as they
should. Numerous administrative changes have added to the
inevitable problems created by Sudan's severe economic situation.
The costs of cotton production have increased sharply at a time
when the prospects and prices for cotton are gloomy.

The inevitable question that arises is: What should be done to
put the situation right? A reorganization of rainland
agriculture, ensuring a better separation of cropping and
livestock grazing, with heavy penalties for trespass, and a
firmer rotational system of cropping on arable land would both be
helpful. Desertification can possibly be minimized by a better
overall grazing strategy, with control over animal numbers and
heavier fines for tree cutting. The rainland farmers are
susceptible to subtle environmental and ecological changes.
Simply to demand a change of crop or land-use management and
expect that this will be done without assistance is not enough.
Subsistence farmers can ill afford the risk of experimentation
(Mirghani, 1966). Gradual change with incentives applicable to
the farmer is what is required.

Administrative shortcomings have been a main problem on
irrigation schemes and should not be too difficult to put right.
However, despite being partners, tenants have neither scope for
individual initiative nor adequate incentives to improve their
own efficiency. Thornton (1964) pointed out that irrigation
schemes should have the flexibility to change in accordance with
environmental, ecological, and economic circumstances, but such
adjustments occur far too slowly in the research area. The
organizational structure of government pumpscheme management is
simply not capable of coming to quick enough commercial
decisions. Wheat appears to be economically more viable than
cotton, but there is little grown, as the farmers have neither
the incentive to put in the greater amount of effort that is
required nor the subsidies that are available for cotton growing
(Gadir, 1976). Rice cultivation by irrigation south of Ed Dueim
is being undertaken on the Umm Takkal Scheme using
"squatter" labour from Ed Dueim town, but consideration
is also being given to extending this crop as far north as Wad
Nimr (EI Fadni, 1976). Success with this crop could have
important implications for irrigated agriculture throughout the
research area.

Fruitful lines of research which could also assist in putting
agriculture in the research area onto a firmer foundation
include: a more detailed analysis of the interaction of man and
animals on the one hand with the land on the other; an
investigation of the possibilities of secondary occupations
providing capital for agricultural investment; and an in-depth
study of the interrelationship of physical conditions, soil
fertility, watering systems (on irrigation schemes), and cropping
patterns.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank all of those who helped in the
preparation of this work. In particular he would like to mention
his field interpreters (Abdel Monam Muzzamil Abd Alla and Mohamed
Adam Khalil) and Harun the landrover driver. He also wishes to
record his debt to the Social Science Research Council for
financial assistance, the British Council for providing a
landrover, and the staff of the geography departments in Swansea
and Khartoum Universities for much assistance. Above all he
wishes to thank the agricultural officials and farmers in the
White Nile Province who were not only willing to be interviewed
but also offered generous hospitality.